Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC Purchases New Stake in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ)

Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in LKQ Co. (NASDAQ:LKQ) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 5,200 shares of the auto parts company’s stock, valued at approximately $249,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of LKQ. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in shares of LKQ by 55.5% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 46,763 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $2,315,000 after buying an additional 16,698 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in shares of LKQ by 2.2% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 426,454 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $21,114,000 after buying an additional 9,273 shares in the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of LKQ by 12.6% in the third quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,162 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $652,000 after buying an additional 1,469 shares in the last quarter. Bfsg LLC boosted its stake in shares of LKQ by 11.7% in the third quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 23,197 shares of the auto parts company’s stock valued at $1,148,000 after buying an additional 2,437 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ascent Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in LKQ by 17.7% during the third quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 6,037 shares of the auto parts company’s stock worth $299,000 after purchasing an additional 907 shares in the last quarter. 95.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on LKQ. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on LKQ from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on LKQ from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com downgraded LKQ from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus restated a “buy” rating and issued a $66.00 price objective on shares of LKQ in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, LKQ currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $61.60.

LKQ Stock Performance

LKQ stock opened at $43.64 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.17 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $50.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $48.16. LKQ Co. has a 52 week low of $41.30 and a 52 week high of $59.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

LKQ (NASDAQ:LKQ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The auto parts company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.95 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.76 billion. LKQ had a net margin of 5.79% and a return on equity of 15.94%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.04 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that LKQ Co. will post 3.94 earnings per share for the current year.

LKQ Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 16th will be paid a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 15th. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.75%. LKQ’s payout ratio is currently 38.96%.

Insider Activity at LKQ

In related news, CEO Dominick P. Zarcone sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.97, for a total value of $10,394,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 386,522 shares in the company, valued at $20,087,548.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

About LKQ

LKQ Corporation engages in the distribution of replacement parts, components, and systems used in the repair and maintenance of vehicles and specialty vehicle aftermarket products and accessories. It operates through four segments: Wholesale-North America, Europe, Specialty, and Self Service. The company distributes bumper covers, automotive body panels, and lights, as well as mechanical automotive parts and accessories; salvage products, including mechanical and collision parts comprising engines; transmissions; door assemblies; sheet metal products, such as trunk lids, fenders, and hoods; lights and bumper assemblies; scrap metal and other materials to metals recyclers; and brake pads, discs and sensors, clutches, steering and suspension products, filters, and oil and automotive fluids, as well as electrical products, including spark plugs and batteries.